It’s already August, which means more than half the year has passed us by. So, is it still appropriate to talk about HR trends for 2022? Or is it like wearing white after Labor Day? Which, by the way, dates back to the 1800s. Did you know that this ‘rule’ was a way to identify those who needed to work from those that didn’t? It segregated people that couldn’t afford to take fall and winter vacations.
Over 200 years later, we still face issues with diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI). In fact, many of the most critical challenges we face today are actually evolutions of the same challenges we faced over the last few years. Human resources (HR) leaders must understand how these challenges are creating the next normal, but also assess and determine how technology can accelerate HR transformation.
The Hybrid Era
2022 is the year to construct policies, practices, and norms around the permanent hybrid workplace moving forward. HR leaders must expand their conversations around hybrid work to consider reconfiguring job roles, modifying schedules and locations, and determining when an external workforce is the best route to take for staffing.
SAP provides the components needed for a successful total workforce management strategy. With SAP solutions, organizations can source, engage, and actively manage external workers. In addition, SAP SuccessFactors Work Zone can surface key tasks and insights, providing an intuitive experience that is personalized for each role and individual.
Learning and Internal Mobility
Organizations continue to struggle to get employees to own their development. It is critical for HR leaders to widely communicate what skills and roles are important priorities for the business, provide content and experiences to address these areas, and reward and recognize employee learning and development.
SAP SuccessFactors Opportunity Marketplace can offer everyone – whether they are in an office, at home, or deskless – visibility into development opportunities that are meaningful and relevant to the individual and important to the business. The SAP Analytics Cloud capability for planning can help you identify gaps and future needs and then align the right workforce learning and development to address those gaps.
Intelligent Technologies
Concerns are growing with the rise of newer, more intelligent employee monitoring technologies for hybrid and remote work, but intelligent technologies for data-driven decision-making are still considered fundamental. HR leaders will need to effectively communicate to help employees understand these tools: their purpose, their value, and how and where personal data is used.
With intelligent technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning embedded across SAP SuccessFactors solutions, you can offer prescriptive guidance on a wide range of strategic areas. For example, personalized learning recommendations use machine learning algorithms based on employee profile information, learning activity, history, and more. By connecting this unique learning experience to personal development and growth, you can help everyone understand the benefit of using these intelligent technologies.
Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging
DEI continues to remain important in 2022, but with the rise of hybrid and remote work organizations must monitor how flexible work models impact DEI efforts. Involving DEI leadership in the creation and evaluation of hybrid work policies will be critical to ensure such opportunities are equitable.
With calibration decisions, you can analyze historical data and surface important information to managers that may have been overlooked in hybrid and remote settings. This guidance helps managers make informed talent decisions and ensure equitable treatment. Also, the writing assistant in SAP SuccessFactors Performance & Goals can guide performance feedback that is equitable and actionable, regardless of employee demographic characteristics.
Employee Experience
Organizations are improving employee experiences by balancing policies that benefit the entire workforce with practices that meet each employee’s unique needs. Personalizing the employee experience can include linking learning and development with personal career goals, matching employees with internal jobs or gigs based on their interests or areas of expertise, and assessing the working style compatibility of team members.
Employee experience management solutions help organizations continuously listen to employees and take insight-based action to improve employee experiences and engagement. Organizations can capture employee sentiment directly within the flow of work by triggering embedded feedback opportunities in moments that matter.
Well-Being
Supporting holistic well-being will be foundational to people sustainability efforts. New policies and practices that emphasize employee well-being – such as four-day work weeks, comprehensive benefits, competitive wages, and development support – will become more widespread and serve as a tool for engagement, attraction, and retention.
SAP SuccessFactors Recruiting can provide the first touch point with a potential employee. Articulating how your organization prioritizes well-being on your career site is key to attracting and retaining key talent.
The Race for Talent
The workforce is demanding more of their current organization and, if they don’t receive it, is increasingly proving they will find it elsewhere. Organizations must develop strategies to reengage their employees who are unhappy and disengaged with individualized development plans and internal mobility opportunities.
With unified talent solutions, you can enable everyone to share more about who they are – their strengths, aspirations, and preferences – so you can match people with meaningful work and build stronger, more dynamic teams. With this whole self approach and intelligent recommendations for employee development and growth, you can align people with purpose and drive the adaptability needed for better business outcomes.
Leadership
People management now requires leading hybrid and remote teams, which comprises setting expectations for flexible work, assessing performance virtually, and creating and maintaining a positive culture in a dispersed team, to name a few. Regardless of team member location, management is becoming more “human-centered” and emotionally supportive. These new skills will require organizations to rethink how they select, promote, and retain people managers.
With SAP SuccessFactors Employee Central, you can automate repeatable tasks to give managers more time for employee development, coaching and giving feedback to team members, and interacting with the team. You can identify new required competencies for performance assessments and selection of new managers.
For the complete insights and recommendations, read the full research paper. Learn more about SAP SuccessFactors Human Experience Management Suite.
Susie Thomas, PHR is global director of Solution Marketing at SAP SuccessFactors.
Lauren Park is a research scientist for Growth and Insights at SAP SuccessFactors.